Sunday was a great day. 
Well, aside from finding out that my ‘vertically growing spinach’ had gone to seed and BOLTED! Nooooooo.
After reading up on it, I guess it is quite common. I had no idea this was a risk-factor for spinach! Gardening is a practice of trial and error I guess.
There was quality time with Mom…
The Huz.
Very successful oil-free baking…(coming soon!)
Crate & Barrel
Whole Foods Mississauga (opening in July)
Square One Mall.
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Fresh Restaurant in Toronto
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A belated birthday dinner courtesy of mom at my favourite vegan restaurant!
Middle Eastern Plate appetizer made up of golden falafel balls with a crunchy exterior and pillowy interior, hummus, tahini, toasted organic whole wheat pita, fresh herbs, and olives:
A DREAM to the taste buds!
I ordered the Flu Fighter juice made up of Celery, Kale, Carrot, Garlic, lemon, ginger, cayenne, and Echinacea. It’s served hot like tea and was perfect on this chilly and cloudy day! This is one of my all-time favourite juices at Fresh.
Hot lemon tea for mom and Eric had the Lucky Charm smoothie made up of raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and mango.
Mom had the Mushroom Onion burger with sautéed mushrooms and onions, tomato, lettuce, sprouts, cheese, and vegan mayo, along with sweet potato fries.
Eric and I both ordered the Grilled Vegetable and Pesto wrap with grilled red pepper, zucchini & sweet potato with pesto, vegan mayo, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, red onion & sprouts along with fries:
Happy bellies ensued!
It wouldn’t be complete without a vegan cupcake and brownie…
This cupcake was a BASIL and cherry flavour! The basil was very pronounced in the frosting. It was strange and we weren’t sure if we liked it, but somehow it vanished from the plate! Funny how that works…
The flavour combo reminded me of something you’d see on Cupcake Wars!
I forgot to get a picture of the vegan walnut brownie (aka: we inhaled it).
Today is the last day of mom’s stay, so we’re off to make it a good one. See you soon with a yummy oil-free sweet bread recipe! Have a fantastic start to your week!
Looks like a wonderful day! I’ve never been to Fresh, but it’s on my list of places to try… Your mom’s meal is pretty much my dream dinner! I am on quite the sweet potato kick lately…
– Brittany
Oooooh BIG yummmm!! I have a feeling I know where we’re going in July! ;) Looks like an awesome trip, and I love your C&B table runners! I might have hit up Lululemon this weekend.. maybe. I thought of you while I was there and am totally bringing my new find over to your place! PS. Please re-create that vegan brownie and post the recipe. Even though I can’t see photos of it, I’m about 100% sure it’ll be good!
Aw I love that face you’re making in the first picture! So dramatically sad… And that black outfit is gorgeous!! Especially the shoes!!!
Everything in this post is drool-worthy, and I can’t believe you fit it all in one day.
Hope your mom has a safe trip :)
Those restaurant photos make me want to move there RIGHT AWAY! It’s hard to even find Vegetarian options in Pittsburgh, much less Vegan or GF! Can’t wait to see that oil free recipe!
Awh what a lovely day! I love how they’ve got the WFs sign up, before there’s even a door :p
Basil and cherry? That does sound interesting!
Aside from all awe-inspiring photos of food, I am dying to know if and when you are releasing a book?! I have been reading your blog for a bit over a year now and I don’t know if it is out of selective memory or not, but I can’t remember if you are writing a book?! Forgive me if I’m wrong, but your recipes are amazing! When ever I am procrastinating (which is basically every second of the day), I am flicking through your recipe archives, book marking something new to try. Each recipe I have ever tried from your blog has been amazing! Seriously, please get pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write a recipe book, I will make all my friends buy it!
Aww thank you Tori! Im working on a cookbook proposal in 2011 :)
Have fun with your Mom!
Veggie/pesto wrap sounds amazing — it is definitely something you need to recreate!
I agree…yum!
What a great day! Your mom is just beautiful – looks like y’all had a wonderful time together!
Aww, you and your mom are so beautiful! Love your wedges!
Sounds like so much fun, and I love the photos.
It’s great that the juice you had is served hot. I never would have thought of such a thing, but that sounds perfect on a cold day (well, except for my raw carrot allergy). :)
Enjoy the rest of your visit with your mom!
What an awesome day :) I can see why you love this restaurant. All the food looks amazing :)
Looks like a really a great day. Sorry to hear about the spinach. I’ve never heard of that either!
enjoy your day with your mom, angela!
WF mississauga?!! ack! wow! thanks for letting us know! square 1, fresh – – > you had a marvelous day (well, except for the spinach plants!)
Your photography skills are amazing! I love your post!
Thank you Claire :)
Looks like you had a great time. I would love to see your recreation of that cupcake…sounds very interesting:)
Looks like you guys are having a blast! A basil cupcake? I love it! Herbs in cupcake form is brilliant in general… I’m thinking rosemary lemon?!
Rosemary lemon is genius!!
You & your mom are both glowing… so beautiful! I’m totally jealous of the new Whole Foods, mine is tiny and needs improvement!!
My spinach did the same thing. Guess I didn’t pick it fast enough.
Your meals, smoothies and desserts look fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Do you know if you are supposed to pick the leaves to prevent bolting?
Everything I’ve read says that heat makes it bolt, and we’ve had three weeks of high temperatures. I did pick some before it bolted, but cleaned out the rest last night. I had much better luck with chard and lettuce. Some people say spinach does better when planted in fall, so I might give it another shot.
Hi
My mom is my big gardening advisor, she said spinach you supposed to seed only in early spring or autumn not in later spring/early summer because it will bolt. So you have chance in autumn:-) for spinach again.
Thanks!
Picking the leaves does help, but the heat causes it to bolt. You can actually find slow-bolting varieties, but spinach is best in cool weather. I’d plant more seeds in August. Also, if you plant a few seeds a couple weeks apart, you can extend the “season” a bit. Good luck!
great thank you!
Um, wow…what a delicious weekend you had! That cupcake just made me weak in the knees…yum!
the lettuce i planted a couple summers ago (2?) grew really tall and bolted quickly because of all the rain we had that year. must be the same this year. the in between heat probably helps too!
sad.
hope other things do better